Is Punk Rock Really Dead?

Last night when conversing with the fam, I was questioned about my icons. Those entertainers, singers, musicians and legends that made impressionable marks in the field of whatever it is they did in history. Who came to mind first Grace Jones ofcourse and Skin from Skunk Anansie.
Rarely paid much attention to them back in the day, in my less enlightened how easily moulded I was to choose a direction out of comfort and comformity. The path of least resistance almost always entails cutting yourself off from the majority. My sis asked, "What has Skin done for the world?" I replied by reinforcing that Skunk Anansie are considered legends in the world of British Punk Rock. My other sis then says, "Punk is dead anyways" Hmmmm. Would you even classify Skunk Anansie in this sub genre.





I'm not an avid follower of the punk movement but I wouldn't think this is the case at all. What does one actually mean when they say that punk is dead. That it's lost its original appeal, that it's no longer as exclusive as it used to be now with the abundance of Emo teenager boys and girls with black nailpolish, skinny jeans, canvas sneakers and torn shirts.

In the same manner some would exclaim that hip hop is dead because it's been made superficial and commercialised. Or that RnB is dead because the originality and depth in lyrical content it initially held has died down.

Well, it's all pretty debatable. Perhaps it comes down to a person's definition of the death of a genre. Some would argue the way hip hop has been commercialised is simply an evolution of the art form and the business / entreprenereal aspect of it is nothing more than a meagre addition to the culture of music as a whole. I don't agree. Money has certainly become a strong focus, so much so that it's distracted and misled artists from the crux of it.